the hum / By Bob Doran

Music for a Cold Winter Night

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Starving Weirdos and friends, an abundance of classical concerts

(Jan. 10, 2008)  They don’t call themselves Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band because they have a lot of members, it’s just a trio, but the sound they make — raw, bold blues played on acoustic instruments — is big and loud as can be. It’s also a true family band: The right Reverend (a big man, by the way) is out front with his guitar and dobro, keeping time stomping his foot; his brother Jayme adds to the beat on a small drum kit, the Rev’s wife Breezy fills in even more rhythm with her washboard. “I’ve been playing with my brother since we were little kids, you know. Then I met Breezy and she was into the same kind of stuff, so we just put this thing together,” explained the Rev, who seems to have no other name.

Why the blues? “I don’t know. I remember playing with this guy; he was older than me by about four years. He said, ‘Whatever you play sounds like blues.’ I guess maybe I was playing blues before I knew what that meant.”

GALLERY >

The Big Damn Band is based in Indianapolis, but they’ve been on the road almost constantly for about three years. Along the way they’ve put out three albums on Family Owned Records, which is just what it sounds like, their own label. (For more on how that works go to the North Coast Journal Blogthing, ncjournal.wordpress.com, for the rest of our interview.)

The photo above shows the trio on a warm spring day. When the Rev called they were trying to get out of chilly Colorado on the way west. The band’s van was stuck in three feet of snow. By next week they’ll be in Arcata for a show at Humboldt Brews Wednesday, Jan. 16. Wear your dancing shoes.

The self-described “wild and desperate” music of Humboldt’s finest outsider band, Starving Weirdos, is an acquired taste. They generally play just one long-ass song, and it’s music that does not stick to your typical melody and rhythm — instead they offer one filigreed chord, a building and receding drone that washes over you like a single wave in slow motion. The band is highly respected in certain circles (Aquarius Records in S.F. and British music mag The Wire come to mind) and because of that, they’ve drawn like-minded musicians to Humboldt. Guitarist David Danielle is one such artist. He’ll be at the Jambalaya Monday, Jan. 14, with the Weirdos and Michael Fles’ world music/shadow play projectSahaja.

Says Danielle, “My solo guitar work is lately focusing on layers of textures and drones with references to the blues and the legacy of guitarists such as Sandy Bull, John Fahey, Sonny Sharrock. My live music is almost entirely improvised (though I’ve also written large ensemble pieces for acoustic instruments, minimalist work in the Terry Riley sense of the word); my solo recordings are through-composed, but using improvised elements as building blocks.” Check his MySpace (/davidwdaniell) for a taste. For more of my interview check the North Coast Journal Blogthing.

For the jamband crowd we have On The One, playing Thursday, Jan. 10, at Humboldt Brews. Longtime Hum readers will recall the various “sidecar projects” that grew out of San Diego’s funky Greyboy Allstars. This is a sidebar to the sidecars with drummer John Staten from Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Giant People joining forces with saxophonist Jesse Molloy and bassist Andy Irvine (both also from Giant People) and guitarist Aaron Bleiweiss, who provides the requisite chicken scratch and occasional solos. Overall, expect an emphasis on improv funk and, as per the name, the downbeat.

Keyboard wiz Mike Kapitan had planned another Miles Ahead gig for The Pearl Friday, Jan. 11, but a family emergency drew their sax player out of town. Instead they’re calling the night of “jazz/funk/trance music” Anything Goes. It’s mostly the same band — Brad Werren on trumpet, Mike LaBolle drums, Anna Pfiefer bass, Mike on keys of course — what’s new is the addition of Tim Randles with a second set of keyboards. As I’ve said before, Tim can play anything and play the hell out of it, and the same goes for the others in this super-band, so the name should fit.

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